Update from our Relief Work in the Caribbean

Watch the video showing some of the scale of devastation to Puerto Rico

UPDATE: Our DC-8 aircraft continues to bring tons of relief supplies every few days to Puerto Rico. Distributions of heavy-duty shelter plastic, blankets, hygiene kits, and other emergency supplies are benefiting thousands of families. We also recently used our helicopter to deliver food kits to scores of families in the remote community of Don Alonso.

“Hurricane Maria didn’t just devastate San Juan, but Puerto Rico from one end of the island to the other,” Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said from San Juan on the 3rd of October. “We’re working not just in this city, but across the island….We’re going to be here for a while.”

At a church service on the 15th of October, three young people volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse came and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Distributions continue on Dominica as well. In addition, six nurses have been deployed there by Samaritan’s Purse to help meet some of the island’s critical medical needs. And, on the 6th of October, medical equipment and supplies were flown in along with a four-person surgical team to help care for those with orthopaedic needs resulting from Hurricane Maria.

THROUGH SAMARITAN’S PURSE WATER AND SANITATION PROJECTS, CLEAN WATER IS AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS OF CARIBBEAN ISLANDS LIKE DOMINICA.

Our teams on the island have also installed four water treatment systems. We will be providing clean drinking water to more than 11,000 people daily; about 20 percent of the population.

On Barbuda, we have established two water treatment systems. We are the only organisation providing clean water on the island. We also are in the process of delivering 400 generators to help families recovering after Hurricane Irma. Our teams have distributed heavy-duty shelter plastic to nearly 50 percent of the island’s households. The first church services on Barbuda after Hurricane Irma were held Sunday, the 15th of October. More than 75 people attended, and sang praises to God for His faithfulness.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND A SURGICAL TEAM HAVE ARRIVED IN THE CARIBBEAN.

In total, our DC-8 plane has made more than 25 trips to the Caribbean to bring in personnel and relief supplies related to our Maria and Irma responses. Our DC-3 aircraft has made more than 75 additional flights to support our responses.

Our Ongoing Caribbean Distributions to Date (Nov. 7)

Medical services to more than 1,350 people

Heavy-duty shelter tarp to more than 73,700 households

More than 11,800 hygiene kits

Nearly 17,000 blankets

More than 1,000 generators

More than 2.2 million liters of clean water

Samaritan’s Purse is bringing physical relief and the hope of the Gospel to families in the Caribbean as they struggle to recover after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

RESIDENTS OF DOMINICA FILL THEIR BOTTLES WITH FRESH, CLEAN DRINKING WATER PROVIDED THROUGH OUR WATER AND SANITATION PROJECT ON THE ISLAND.

In response to Maria, we now have a disaster assistance response team on both Puerto Rico and Dominica. Emergency relief supplies have been sent to both locations.

After Irma, relief supplies were sent to hard-hit islands of the Caribbean, including St. Martin, Antigua, Barbuda, and the Turks and Caicos.

“My prayers are with the many who have seen their homes and businesses devastated by Irma’s wind and water. They will now be facing an overwhelming clean-up,” said Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham. “I pray especially for those who have lost loved ones in the storm.”

Via multiple flights by our DC-8 plane, we brought in food, blankets, shelter plastic, hygiene kits, and water purification units. In St. Martin, we also installed equipment to convert seawater into clean drinking water. Our missions have been completed in Turks and Caicos and St. Martin.

We are continuing clean-up work on Barbuda as residents and churches prepare to rebuild. “We want to make a difference here in Jesus’ Name,” Franklin Graham said while on the island. “This part of the world is going to need a lot of help, and a lot of work. We’re going to have teams down here for months to come.”

Please join us in praying for people affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Pray that God would provide everything our teams need to bring relief to the Caribbean. Please also pray that numerous men, women, and children would come to faith in Jesus Christ.

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Your gift will go towards helping those affected by disasters such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and will be used to provide items such as emergency food, medical care, shelter, water and hygiene kits.

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